


Good Idea, Bad Idea

by lanapanda



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Multi, Polyamory Negotiations
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-31
Updated: 2013-12-31
Packaged: 2018-01-06 21:45:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1111861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lanapanda/pseuds/lanapanda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony & Rhodey? It's complicated. Tony & Bruce? That's pretty complicated too. And Rhodey is sure that none of this is going to turn out as neatly as Tony expects.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Good Idea, Bad Idea

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired from one of the "texts from avengers" tumblrs out there.

_(646): Is 1:30 too early for the bar?_

_(718): Do you want my opinion or society’s?_

_(646): I want your company_

 

Rhodey brushed his thumb across the words on the screen. It was half-past one and he was ten minutes into what would probably turn into a two hour security lecture on the new safety protocols for high level weapons’ access on the flight line. That they were safety protocols he’d recommended (and the higher ups had ignored) _before_ the last security breach was just the icing on the cake.

_(718): Not sure that’s a good idea._

 

He typed out the words and hit send, ignoring the pang of guilt that went with the message. It wasn’t a good idea. It was never a good idea to go to the bar with Tony, whether it was 1:30 pm or 10:30 pm or 8:30 am because it almost always ended the same way.

Having to cut him off.

Having to take him home.

Waiting for him to sober up.

And in between the time spent taking him home and getting him sober…

 

_(646): Why isn’t it?_

_(718): You know damn well why._

_(646): Don’t do this to me honey bear_

 

Rhodey turned the phone over and tried to listen to the presenter outline the access procedures. There would be personnel monitoring as well as automated monitoring and scans now. Seemed like they’d taken his advice on having the encryption program as well. Maybe now they wouldn’t have random supervillains gaining access to classified files and schematics during changeovers.

Rhodey’s phone buzzed again. He exhaled a sigh and closed his eyes for the space of two heartbeats. Then he turned the phone over again.

 

_(646): I’ll tell him._

 

Rhodey stared at the message, his heartbeat thudding in his ears.

 

_(718): Like you were going to tell Pep?_

_(646): This is different and you know it._

_(718): Yeah. It is._

 

“Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes, is there a problem?” The commanding officer’s voice cut through the room like a whip. Rhodey looked up at those assembled. Every eye was on him, but that was nothing new. War Machine, Iron Patriot, whatever the flavor of the month was for the name, there was only one pilot.

That said pilot was more interested in his phone than protecting his armor wasn’t going to go unnoticed.

“No problem, Sir. Just got word that there might be an unscheduled upgrade. I should probably go discuss the specifics with Mr. Stark,” Rhodey lied, but he’d learned how to lie from watching Tony which meant that he didn’t bat an eyelash or miss a beat even though the rising swell of panic at what Tony might do was making Rhodey’s flight or fight response kick into overdrive.

“Ah. In that case, dismissed,” The commanding officer nodded and turned his attention to the presenter, waving a hand for the woman to continue.

Rhodey stood up, nodded to those assembled and headed for the door. He glanced at his phone again on the way down the elevator to his car.

 

_(646): No more don’t ask, don’t tell, right?_

_(718): Wrong. Especially now._

_(646): Are you afraid?_

_(718): Hell no. I’m worried about you._

_(646): That makes two of us._

 

Rhodey flashed his security badge at the desk on the way out and started sprinting as soon as he got to the parking lot. He set the phone to autodial as soon as he was inside the car, and he fastened his seatbelt at the same moment that he pulled out of the lot.

“Thought you were busy.”

“Yeah, well, I just got un-busy. What the hell, Tony?”

“I miss you too, Honey Bear.”

“You’ve already started drinking.”

It wasn’t a question. ‘Honey Bear’ was Tony’s way of driving Rhodey nuts and giving him a pet name that he could get away with all at the same time. Sure, call the big black man trained in hand-to-hand combat and advanced tactical weaponry cute names. It was funny, right? No one else ever took it seriously.

Because no one else had ever heard Tony say it when he was wrapped up in Rhodey’s arms, being carried to his room. No one but Rhodey had ever heard the way Tony’s breath would hitch right before he said it, or the way Tony could growl it out all in a rush when Rhodey had him pinned to the wall, both wrists caught in one hand.

It was the stupidest goddamned pet name in the history of ever, and the fact that Tony could seriously turn him on with something so ridiculous was just one more thing that made Rhodey wish he had more willpower when it came to Tony Stark.

But he didn’t. He never had, not even in the beginning when Rhodey was denying that part of himself that found men just as attractive as women.

“I haven’t actually,” Tony’s voice cut through Rhodey’s reverie. “I figured the bar was a no-go, but then I remembered that I have a bar here at my place. So I’ll just avoid the crowds and get a drink upstairs when I’m done with this new sensor array for the suit.”

“He down there with you?” Rhodey made a sharp right turn, taking out his general frustration in another burst of speed.

“Wow, rude and bad grammar. You really are jealous, aren’t you?”

“Why would I be jealous, Tony? Why wouldn’t I be anything but completely thrilled with —”

“With what? Being my best friend?”

“…Yeah.” Rhodey hung up. He eased his foot off the gas and wondered for what had to have been at least the seven thousandth time why he was putting himself through this.

It was never going to change. Tony was never going to change.

The phone rang. Rhodey waved a hand over it without looking at the number. “Talk to me.”

“Bad connection, right?”

“No, I hung up on you.”

“For what?”

“Tony… Because sometimes you are so full of shit I dunno what else to do, man.”

There was a long pause before Tony replied.

“I really am going to tell him.”

“Okay. I believe you.”

“No you don’t.”

“I do, which is why I’m pulling in at your place right now.”

“I thought you were over at the base!”

Rhodey could practically see Tony’s raised eyebrows and wide eyes. It made him smile. Tony wasn’t the only one who got to be unpredictable, goddamnit. And if he was really considering pissing off Bruce Banner…

“I was. Now I’m not.”

“Fucking hell, what have I told you about the speeding? That car does not fly, Rhodey.”

“So make me a flying car.”

“Don’t tempt me,” Tony said with a smirk. He hung up and turned to pull up a security screen. “Sonofabitch. He must have been going over 130 to get here that fast.”

“One-hundred forty-seven miles per hour to be exact, Sir. Shall I let him in?” JARVIS said as Rhodey parked the car just outside the garage.

“Yeah, just like always. And let me know if Bruce heads home early, alright?”

“Of course, Sir.”

 

————————————————————————————

 

Tony thought he was prepared for it, even though he knew better. There was no preparing for the way it felt when Rhodey hugged him from behind. It was more than the physicality of it, more than the way those strong arms would hold him up, more than the lean hardness of Rhodey’s abs and chest at his back. And it was more than the way Rhodey practically purred ‘hey Tony’ while nuzzling one of Tony’s ears and making him forget how to breathe.

It was all of those things; none of those things. A frisson of awareness, mild panic, a flash of heat and ultimately acceptance tangled with Tony’s anticipation of being held like that. And like always, Rhodey did not disappoint.

He was out of a meeting and when Tony took a deep breath, he could still catch the scent of Rhodey’s cologne - amber and cedar, citrus and tobacco - something smoky and bright all at the same time. When he was off the flight line, the cologne was harder to catch. On those days, Rhodey smelled mostly like the heat of the tarmac, smoke and oil… all things that Tony found both familiar and somewhat comforting given his days and nights in the workshop or the lab.

But Tony liked Rhodey best when he was just out of the suit. War Machine. Right out of it, right after a fight, Rhodey smelled like sweat and hot metal and only the base notes of that cologne would remain - not even a real scent, but something that hit Tony’s perceptions low at the base of his spine and traveled lower.

Tony really should have taken War Machine back from him, but the name and the suit fit Rhodey too well.

“You’re pretty quiet,” Rhodey observed without letting go of Tony in the least.

“Lust-dazed,” Tony replied with a half-smile. He turned in the circle of Rhodey’s arms, ignoring the display screen that he hadn’t been paying attention to since the moment the other man’s arms were around him.

“It’s a good look for you,” Rhodey said with a smirk. He brushed his thumb across Tony’s mouth and then leaned down, kissing him with deliberate slowness. “You are _not_ going to tell him,” he murmured once they both came up for air.

“I think… he deserves to know,” Tony said. He looked up into Rhodey’s eyes. Brown eyes. How could anyone ever think that eyes like that were just ‘brown’? Rhodey’s eyes were warm honey ringed with dark chocolate and soft like velvet. They were completely different from Bruce’s eyes. Bruce’s eyes were like brandy and cinnamon and gentle. Shy.

And shy was a word that James Rhodes had never been acquainted with.

Rhodey shook his head. “If it was me, I’d be pissed.”

“Well, that’s because you have a temper,” Tony said with a grin. “Bruce will be fine. I’ll talk to him. We’ll… figure something out.”

“And if he does get pissed?”

“He’s not going to hurt me, Rhodey. This isn’t… It’s nothing like Pep. We’re not that far down the road and I know, I’m an asshole, but this is fixable,” Tony’s gaze never wavered from Rhodey’s and he massaged the other man’s shoulders.

“In that case,” Rhodey said, “I’ll stick around for the conversation.”

“And in the meantime? Plan on keeping me company down here?”

“I’m sure you can figure out something to help us pass the time.”


End file.
